Calibrachoa sp. cultivar KLEC00069.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Calibrachoa plant, botanically known as Calibrachoa sp., and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98KLEC00069xe2x80x99.
The new Calibrachoa is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Stuttgart, Germany. The objective of the program is to create new early-flowering Calibrachoa cultivars with cascading and freely branching growth habit and attractive flower colors.
The new Calibrachoa originated from a cross made by the Inventor during the summer of 1997 of a proprietary selection of Calibrachoa identified as code number J 100, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Calibrachoa identified as code number J 353, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Calibrachoa was selected by the Inventor in May, 1998 in a controlled environment in Stuttgart, Germany, on the basis of its cascading plant habit and violet purple-colored flowers.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Stuttgart, Germany since June, 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Calibrachoa are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar KLEC00069 have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity, daylength, water status and fertility level without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98KLEC00069xe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98KLEC00069xe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar of Calibrachoa:
1. Compact and cascading plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit.
3. Early flowering.
4. Violet purple-colored flowers.
5. Good weather tolerance; tolerant to rain and low and high temperatures.
Plants of the new Calibrachoa differ primarily from plants of the parent selections in flower color as flower color of plants of the new Calibrachoa are violet purple whereas flower color of plants of the parent selections is reddish purple.
Plants of the new cultivar can be compared to plants of the Calibrachoa cultivar KLEC00070, U.S. Plant Patent application filed concurrently with this application. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Stuttgart, Germany, plants of the new Calibrachoa differed from plants of the cultivar KLEC00070 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Calibrachoa are more cascading than plants of the KLEC00070.
2. Plants of the new Calibrachoa have larger flowers than plants of the KLEC00070.
3. Flower color of plants of the new Calibrachoa is lighter than flower color of plants of the KLEC00070.
Plants of the cultivar KLEC00069 can also be compared to plants of the Calibrachoa cultivar Sunbelkubi, not patented. However in side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Stuttgart, Germany, plants of the new Calibrachoa and the cultivar Sunbelkubi differ in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Calibrachoa have a more cascading habit than plants of the cultivar Sunbelkubi.
2. Plants of the new Calibrachoa have fewer, but larger flowers than plants of the cultivar Sunbelkubi.
3. Flower form of plants of the new Calibrachoa is salverform whereas flower form of plants of the cultivar Sunbelkubi is cup-shaped.
4. Plants of the new Calibrachoa have stronger lateral branches that resist breakage better than plants of the cultivar Sunbelkubi.